This invention relates to an organizer for storing loose sheets of material such as photographs, file cards, recipe cards and the like in an orderly and safe manner.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,682,522 and 4,717,215 loose sheets of material are oftentimes placed in hanging files and the files, in turn, suspended between parallel rails in file drawers or boxes. The hanging file generally involves a long sheet of cardboard that is folded to form an inverted U-shaped container or file into which sheets of material can be inserted. Rods having hook-like appendages are secured to the opposed top ends of the folder and are used to hang the file between the rails. Depending on the size of the file drawer or box, a number of files can be suspended along the length of the rails. Although hanging files work well in practice, they oftentimes are mishandled by the user resulting in the file becoming damaged and rendered unusable. In addition, the materials stored in the files, and in particular small size paper sheets, can curl up and end up being lost or damaged in the bottom of the file.
A container for storing photographs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,176. Here the photographs are placed in a series of albums and the albums are placed upon hangers and suspended upon rails located within the container. The albums, however, are rather complex and thus difficult to assemble. Each album is held together by an elastic band that is stretched around the outer periphery of the assembly. Inserting and withdrawing the albums from the container can cause the elastic bands to become worn or physically dislodged, thus allowing the albums to come apart and the contents becoming lost.